Investigators: DNA from genealogy site caught serial killer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — More than three decades after his trail went cold, one of California's most prolific and elusive serial killers was caught when investigators matched crime-scene DNA with genetic material stored by a relative on an online genealogical site, prosecutors said Thursday.

T. Abbott, left, and John Lopes, right, from the Sacramento County Sheriff's crime scene investigation office, conference about boxes of evidence gathered from the home of murder suspect Joseph DeAngelo, Thursday, April 26, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. DeAngelo, 72, was taken into custod Tuesday on suspicion of committing multiple homicides and rapes in the 1970s and 1980s in California. Authorities spent the day going through the home for evidence.

John Lopes, a crime scene investigator for the Sacramento Sheriff's office picks up bags of evidence taken from the home of murder suspect Joseph DeAngelo to be placed in a sheriff's vehicle Thursday, April 26, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. DeAngelo, 72, was taken into custody, Tuesday, on suspicion of committing multiple homicides and rapes in the 1970's and 1980's in California. Authorities spent the day going through the home for evidence.

Joseph James DeAngelo. DeAngelo, a suspected California serial killer who committed at least 12 homicides and 45 rapes throughout the state in the 1970s and '80s was identified Wednesday, April 25, 2018, as a former police officer, an official said. (Sacramento County Sheriff's Office via AP)

A car is backed out of the garage of a home searched in connection with the arrest of a man on suspicion of murder, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office plans to make a major announcement in the case of a serial killer they say committed at least 12 homicides, 45 rapes and dozens of burglaries across California in the 1970's and 1980s.

Artist renderings of a serial killer and rapist, also known as the "East Area Rapist" and "Golden State Killer" from 1976 to 1986. A California sheriff said Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer accused of being a serial killer and rapist, was taken by surprise when deputies swooped in and arrested him Tuesday, April 24, 2018, as he stepped out of his home. (FBI via AP)

Part of East Area Rapist Crime reports at the Sheriff's department evidence room in Sacramento, Calif. Volumes of reports about the murder investigation are contained in the evidence room at the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department. A California sheriff said Joseph James DeAngelo, a former police officer accused of being a serial killer and rapist, was taken by surprise when deputies swooped in and arrested him Tuesday, April 24, 2018, as he stepped out of his home. (FBI via AP)

A sketch and details of a stolen ring the attacker who became known as the East Area Rapist took from one of his victims. Authorities said the attacker ransacked homes and took coins, jewelry and identification. Joseph James DeAngelo, once sworn to protect the public from crime, was accused Wednesday, April 25, 2018, of living a double life terrorizing suburban neighborhoods at night, becoming one of California's most feared serial killers and rapists in the 1970s and '80s before leaving a cold trail that baffled investigators for more than three decades. (FBI via AP)

Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones discusses the arrest of Joseph James DeAngelo for a string of violent crimes in the 1970's and 1980's, at a news conference, Wednesday, April 25, 2018, in Sacramento, Calif. DeAngelo, 72, was taken into custody at his suburban Sacramento home, Tuesday, on suspicion of committing at least 12 slayings and 45 rapes in California.

East Area Rapist Ski Masks in Sacramento, Calif. A California sheriff says a former police officer accused of being a serial killer and rapist was taken by surprise when deputies swooped in and arrested him as he stepped out of his home. Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said deputies planned to arrest Joseph DeAngelo when he left his home on Tuesday, April 24, 2018. (FBI via AP)

A home invasion ransacking by an attacker who became known as the "East Area Rapist" at an unknown location in California. Authorities said the attacker ransacked the home and took coins, jewelry and identification. Joseph James DeAngelo, once sworn to protect the public from crime, was accused Wednesday, April 25, 2018, of living a double life terrorizing suburban neighborhoods at night, becoming one of California's most feared serial killers and rapists in the 1970s and '80s before leaving a cold trail that baffled investigators for more than three decades. (FBI via AP)

John Lopes, a crime scene investigator for the Sacramento County Sheriff's office, carries boxes of evidence taken from the home of murder suspect Joseph DeAngelo to a sheriff's vehicle Thursday, April 26, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. DeAngelo, 72, was taken into custody Tuesday on suspicion of committing multiple homicides and rapes in the 1970s and 1980s in California. Authorities spent the day going through the home for evidence.

Sacramento Sheriff's deputies carry evidence taken from the home of suspect Joseph DeAngelo to a sheriff's vehicle Thursday, April 26, 2018, in Citrus Heights, Calif. DeAngelo was taken into custody, Tuesday, on suspicion of committing multiple slayings and dozens of rapes in the 1970's and 1980's in California.

April 27, 2018

Authorities have said the DNA tied former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, to most of the 12 killings he is accused of committing between 1976 and 1986 as part of the Golden State Killer case.

Investigators also allege DeAngelo raped more than 50 women during that period. Authorities declined to name the DNA site used to track the DNA. Companies such as Ancestry.com and 23andMe charge customers to use their DNA to produce genetic profiles that determine ethnicity and can identify long-lost relatives, among other services. Both companies said Thursday they weren't involved in the case against DeAngelo.

Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert said investigators surreptitiously obtained his DNA last week from discarded material that ended up matching DNA at crime scenes. Police received thousands of tips over the years, but DeAngelo's name had not been on the radar of law enforcement before last week, Schubert said.

In other developments Thursday, police in Visalia said DeAngelo is a suspect in the 1975 killing of community college teacher Claude Snelling in the farming community about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Fresno.

If the link is confirmed, it would boost the number of victims to 13 in the serial killing case. DeAngelo worked as a police officer in nearby Exeter from 1973 to 1976, and police in the region believe he also is the Visalia Ransacker, responsible for the death of Snelling, who was fatally shot while stopping someone from kidnapping his 16-year-old daughter, and about 100 burglaries.

Visalia police Chief Jason Salazar said Snelling's death and the region's burglaries weren't part of the tally of crimes authorities released Wednesday in the serial killing case because investigators lacked DNA evidence on those crimes.

Salazar said fingerprints and shoe tracks will be eyed for matches to DeAngelo. Detectives are also looking to see if any items taken during the Visalia burglaries are uncovered during the investigation.

In addition, DeAngelo matches the description of Snelling's killer, Salazar said, and the attacker used sophisticated pry tools to gain entrance to locked homes, just as authorities say DeAngelo did in other crimes.

The culprit also wore a ski mask and eluded capture because of an apparent deep-knowledge of police work. "He always had a good escape route," Salazar said. Farrel Ward, 75, served on the Exeter Police Department with DeAngelo. Ward called him a "black sheep," saying he was quiet and didn't fit in with other officers.

Ward said it's possible that DeAngelo helped with a search in a killing he's now suspected of committing. Ward doesn't recall DeAngelo directly working on the case but said it's possible he joined the hunt for the killer.

Ward said he thought DeAngelo was overqualified for the small-town job because he graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in criminal justice. "He knew everything about everything, but he didn't have common sense about him," Ward said

Investigators searched DeAngelo's home on Thursday, looking for class rings, earrings, dishes and other items that were taken from crime scenes. Authorities were also seeking weapons and other items that could link the suspect to the crimes, Sacramento County sheriff's Lt. Paul Belli said. He declined to say what, if anything, investigators had found.

Retired FBI profiler Clint Van Zandt said he and others have speculated that the serial killer had police or military training because of the sophistication of the crimes and the suspect's ability to elude capture.

DeAngelo had both. He served six years as a police officer after serving for nearly two years in the Navy during the Vietnam War. After leaving the Exeter police department, he joined the Auburn Police Department outside Sacramento. Auburn fired him in 1979 after he was caught shoplifting a hammer and dog repellent.

Investigators have linked DeAngelo to 11 killings that occurred after he was fired. "There may have been a revenge aspect to it," Van Zandt said of the crimes. "He was going to show police that he was smarter than any of them and that it was a mistake to fire him."

Investigators said DeAngelo appeared to stop killing and raping after 1986 and settled down to steady employment and a middle-class life. Profilers have said most serial killers usually don't stop until they die or get arrested, but a few have voluntarily quit.

Scientists developed a way to identify rapists and others through DNA fingerprinting in 1986, the same year as the last attack by the Golden State Killer. Experts noted that DeAngelo likely knew about the highly publicized DNA breakthrough.

"He knew police techniques," said John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor Louis Schlesinger. "He was smart." James Huddle said he always hoped police would catch the killer whose attacks prompted him to buy a pistol.

But he was stunned to find out the man arrested was DeAngelo, his former brother-in-law. Huddle said it was "still just going crazy in my mind." __ Balsamo reported from Los Angeles. AP Writer Paul Elias contributed to this story from San Francisco.